On Oppression

Oppression is the combination of social power with aversion, anxiety, and/or animus, singly or in any combination.

It is applied structurally and enforced personally.

Social power is collective, found in law, in attitude, in policy, in practice, in the norms and mores that constitute “normal affairs”. Social power includes legal, governmental, economic, or simply the weight of socio-cultural mores, traditions, history, and norms — it becomes oppression, given force through Structure, institutionalize and written into the expectations and functioning to the benefit of those who are not subject to that oppression.

Social power divides those who have some quality as being separate from those who lack that quality. The systems created by a society that benefits those with the desired qualities is called Structure. Language, law, religion, art, fashion, entertainment, and so forth work and presume the default of those qualities and reinforce the Structure as it is broadly conceived.

In western social mores and norms, the qualities that are supported by social power are:

Those possessing one or more of these qualities are functionally immune to social stigma as a result of being the default in that category of quality. They gain social privilege as a result of this immunity. They have increased Agency in society as a result.

Those who are lacking in one or more of these qualities are subject to social stigma and structural limitations within the systems created by, for, and about those who are part of the variable social qualities that benefit from these systems.

The more qualities one possesses, the greater the benefit from the system, and the less likely one is to be subjected to social stigma or consequence. This means that this increases exponentially with each aspect.

Contrary, those who lack such qualities are, exponentially, subjected to greater stigma and fewer opportunities, as well as heightened consequences. This means a lack of Agency, and increase in Stigma, and an absence of Privilege.

Aversion is the avoidance, escape from, retreat from, and effort related to those things. Aversion is things like being disgusted, in opposition to, identifying something as repugnant, and exhibiting strong feelings about this. Aversion is the desire to avoid, the act of arguing to avoid or reduce encounters. It includes being unwilling to listen or accept factual statements made by disavowed people. It also includes not wanting those people in the restroom.

Anxietyis the worry about or regarding, concern for safety relating to or of, and efforts relating to concern and worry relating to the object of anxiety. It is often incorrectly reduced to “fear”. One need not be afraid of something to be concerned about it. Anxiety is distress, worry, concern, and overt anxiousness about something or someone that is strongly expressed in physical, literal, or metaphorical terms. Anxiety is worry, concern, or anticipatory ideation relating to a group disavowed. It includes prejudice against this group of people, such as worrying about what they do in the restroom.

Animus is intense dislike. A person who refuses to eat green beans because they really don’t like them, is demonstrating Animus. . It involves devaluing the lives of people, erasing their dignity, opposing their civil and human rights, denying them the ability to mark themselves,and outright harm to them. Animus is intense dislike, easily distinguished by overly concerned and reactionary language and violence, in any form. It includes agitating in the interest of preventing these disavowed people from being In the restroom by law or policy.

When these three elements are applied to impersonal subjects, we often tag them as being mentally unhealthy and potentially disabling.

Their use when it relates to groups of people creates the structural potential for stigma and the resultant shame that comes from being so stigmatized.

This is generally called discrimination. By itself, discrimination does not create oppression.

This is then combined with the social power of those who benefit from the oppression of others — safety, security, and peace of mind are the usual terms used to justify it.

This prejudice and discrimination, enacted through stigma, reinforced by social shame, is violence, in and of itself, often done without consideration for its harm because it is seen as acceptable violence.

When combined with Lust or Avarice, these things, singly or in combination, become tools of fetishization and exploitation.

When outgroups — those who lack the qualities that are approved of — are oppressed, they are frequently exploited and objectified. These actions are derived from the stigma associated with them and the desire of those in power to resist conforming to the same norms.

When members of those outgroups speak against oppression, they are subjected to interpersonal stigma, while those who benefit from one or more of the socially empowered qualities will display defensiveness and place blame for this defensiveness on the member speaking out.

When a member of the outgroups conforms and is supportive of their oppression, they are rewarded with being excluded, on a case by case basis, from the outgroups, and given a slightly less stigmatized position.

This is called collusion.

Individuals have the ability to resist Structure as a social power through the use of Agency, which requires, first and foremost, understanding what Structure is and how it operates in terms of their particular benefits or stigmas gained, and how it functions to suppress or oppress them.

Suppression is a social force that utilizes stigma as a tool to silence dissent, enforce conformity, and discourage Agency.

An example of Suppression is altering and educational system to reduce the importance of art and critical thinking in favor of core mathematics, basic literacy, and economic labor participation skills (work).

So “career colleges” are Suppressive tools of Structure, as are things like charter schools. These are enabled through the creation of choice vouchers, making such items tools of the Structure.

A test of such would be a school that places less import on mathematics, basic literacy, and work skills, and instead focuses on artistic endeavor being socially or economically punished for doing so.

If they are not, then they are not tools of Suppression.

Another act of Suppression is when men engage in acts which are not considered manly. In addition to the stigma, they are encouraged to change and perform more effectively in conforming.

Both the stigma and the encouragement are suppressive, even though, in this case, the subject benefits from the Structure — conforming provides the benefits to a greater degree than non-conformance does, thus creating a situation like down low behaviors.

Suppression is often seen as being equal to Oppression, but is not. Suppression rewards benefits when it is overcome, oppression does not.

Reverse racism is a Suppressive element of Structure.

Racism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, xenophobia, islamophobia, and so forth are all Oppression.

There is no time, place, reason, or excuse usable to justify oppression as moral, ethical, decent, or acceptable.